


Backstory Blues (Unfinished)

by WhatIsThisNonsense



Series: Good Bend(y) AU [4]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Archive for partial chapters and notes, Other, Unfinished
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 7,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26539516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatIsThisNonsense/pseuds/WhatIsThisNonsense
Summary: Unfinished Prologue For The Devil's Swing, focusing on Alice
Series: Good Bend(y) AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/708306
Kudos: 3





	1. Once Upon An Inkwell

Once upon a time, man created art. This was widely regarded as one of the few good ideas mankind has ever had, but they seemed to have gotten the wrong idea about the whole thing. It became a saying that art imitated life, which implied that art wasn’t alive to begin with, a horrible mistake to make.

It became particularly egregious in the early 20th century, when Toons first began to be made and with them, their world-- their Inkwell-- came into being.

It didn’t have a name, at first. Toons were not complicated creatures; they fit their character’s tropes and tricks and did not waver or Develop further, particularly at the beginning when Character Development had not yet been conceived for animation. The only Toons interested in the idea of studying their own world were the scientists, mad or otherwise, and even that was more to know how to manipulate it; normal Toons only knew they lived there, and that when people forgot them and they Ended they would return to it, still and silent forever.

The name came from a man named Fleshier, who in turn was precisely why the Toons were always a little irreverent about their Creators; at the time there was no barrier and many holes leading into the Inkwell, things that many animators would use and abuse, treating the Inkwell’s children as little more than puppets, something that annoyed even the most oblivious of Toons. 

The Inkwell itself liked it even less.

After a certain point, when it could no longer take the crimes of humanity against its children, it spat a veil around it, plugging up every hole any artist could use to drag a Toon into real life with any thought, any Idea that had never been fully formed as part of itself, or was discarded before even being brought to life. A buzzing, screaming well of voices, bits of thought swimming about like fish in a bowl, all constantly pulling on anything that tried to cross. No human could survive it and remain sane, and it had the bonus of discouraging any Toons who would be written too curious for their own good, as even they were shaken by the barrier between their worlds.

They called it the Screaming Void. They called it something to stay as far away from as possible.

However, while Toons had a sort of simple wisdom to them, humans always took such things as a challenge. To one man, in particular, it was not only a challenge, but something to defeat in sheer spite and use for his own devices. No barrier, but a tool, his own personal chisel to carve his name onto his own world forever.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Joey Drew.


	2. Projecting Onto A Character

If someone had told Norman Polk that Joey Drew Studios, on the verge of bankruptcy for so many years it was a wonder their personal accountant hadn’t lost his mind, forever only kept afloat on  _ The Lil Darlin’ Devil Show _ ’s sheer popularity in spite of the show owner’s constant mismanagement, would eventually produce three real, living,  _ breathing  _ Toons, he’d have laughed them out of the room. Unfortunately, it looked like the joke was on him.

It started when Joey had brought them all to a room he had requisitioned off of Level 4-- to Sammy’s loud and constant dismay-- and showed them all a room filled near end-to-end by a giant pentagram, surrounded by various Bendy merchandise. When asked, rather reasonably, what the actual hell he was doing, he said today they were going to meet Bendy.

If Joey hadn’t had been fast enough with placing that odd box in his hands upside down in the center of the circle and then booking himself out of it before the glowing started, honestly Norman would have walked out of the room right then.

As it was, Joey barely cleared the edge of the circle before a violent gleam of light burst from the pentagram, enveloping it in it’s unholy light and preventing anyone from peering within. Inside the glow, Norman could hear the sound of of ink pooling and gurgling, already familiar from the pipes that flowed through the entire studio. What was not familiar was the far more sinister sound of snapping, like bones being forced into place by a splint, and an undercurrent of a pained, fearful wail.

When it all finally faded, the box Joey had placed in the center had been pushed aside with an unpleasant red smear, and in its stead was the tiny, shaking, huddled form of Bendy The Dancing Demon, alive and shuddering.

Norman kept his feet locked, equal parts from shock and a grim fascination, but most of his co-workers began shouting and milling about, causing the small Toon to curl up even further on himself, shivering. Joey, on the other hand, only grinned wider, until the projectionist thought his cheeks would rip from the strain. Maneuvering his wheelchair about his employees, the studio owner glided up to his most favorite of properties and offered him his hand.

Bendy looked up, first at the hand, then at the man, leaning back a bit with obvious suspicion, but Joey beamed brighter, in a way that could have almost been construed as kind.

“Welcome to the Studio, Bendy”, he hummed. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

To Grant and Thomas’s combined horror, Joey ordered three more floors to be built not a day after this, plus some remodeling on some of the other floors, citing the need for more wriggle room now that they had a real life cartoon among them. When protests came up, the studio owner sighed, like a father patiently dealing with spoiled children, and “compromised” by saying one of the floors could be fitted to hold all the Bendy Land Project’s material and development labs. Bertram was antsy to get that much room to himself, and if the themepark tycoon and Joey agreed on something it was inevitably all over for everyone else.

Bendy himself initially seemed rather shy. Not surprising, given his timid manner in his own show and how unpleasant his “ _ birth _ ” had sounded, but odd in that most of his initial suspicion seemed to fall on Joey and the animation department. Still, Joey kept him in his office until the apartment suite just off the toy department was finished, and appeared to be spoiling the little demon  _ rotten _ ; it only took a few days for the lil’ darlin’ devil to perk up and start exploring the upper levels, constantly sticking his non-existent nose into things in childish awe and delight.

In fact, the animation department went from wondering why Bendy seemed scared of them to wishing he’d stop climbing all over them. Frustrated, they decided to shove him onto Norman, reasoning if he was so curious about his own animation he could learn from the projectionist’s reels and thus be his problem instead.

Norman wasn’t really surprised when all of them answered that they didn’t have any spawn of their own when he asked if they had ever dealt with kids.

Still, while constantly dealing with the dancing demon’s shenanigans was  _ terribly _ time consuming, it did keep him where the projectionist could actually watch and figure the little Toon out. Darling, as it turned out, was a gross understatement; Bendy was downright  _ adorable _ , growing bolder and more excited every day, but also surprisingly intelligent. Norman figured it did make sense, seeing as how he was always meant to be a bit of a trickster and that required a little bit of cunning, but it was never specifically written he was  _ smart _ .

Of course, being smart and acting smart were not necessarily the same thing.

“Ya’ll get down from there!”, the projectionist shouted at the darlin’ devil as he dangled from a rafter. Bendy blinked at him, swinging himself up to stand on the ceiling fixture he had claimed as a personal jungle gym and fixing a curious look down at Norman.

“Why?”, he asked, folding his hands behind his back and tilting his head. “Ain’t like I’m hurtin’ nobody, yeah?”

Norman fought the urge to bring his palm to his face. “No, but  _ you _ might get hurt”, he explained, forcing patience into his voice. “Those rafters ain’t what we’d call highly maintained; darn thing could break if a fly landed on it wrong.”

“B-break, huh?” The dancing demon managed to gulp despite missing a throat, glancing nervously at the rafter under his feet and bringing his hands back around to fiddle with his bowtie. After a moment, however, he flashed a broad, slightly twitchy grin back down at the projectionist. “Awww, yer jus’ bein’ a worry wart! Ain’t nothin’ wrong with this rafter! In fact, y’know, I bet I could--” With another quick adjustment to his bow, Bendy smoothly switched from standing still to a short tap dance, grin stabilizing and brightening after the rafter held firm under the quick steps. “--Yeah, see? Sturdy enough ta dance on! You should really stop fussin’ so--”

Bendy was right in thinking that the rafter wasn’t going to give out on him, because at that moment his foot slipped, hitting empty air instead of wood. Norman could swear that the cartoon demon hovered for a few seconds while he realized what had happened, his smile time freezing into a perfect “ _ oh crud _ ” expression, before he finally fell with a terrified yelp.

Norman may have been getting on in years, but he discovered rather quickly that his legs could still carry him at top speed if they really needed to.

The dancing demon landed in his arms with a startled squeak. By some luck, the projectionist fought off the momentum of the plummeting devil and straightened, just barely managing not to fall, feet scrambling before finally getting underneath him, steady. Bendy had his face hidden by his hands, as if that would hide him from gravity. Norman sighed.

“Ya’ll alright?”, he asked, sounding much calmer than his fast-beating heart made him feel.

“H-huh?” The tiny Toon peeked out from between his fingers, clearly expecting to be seeing birdies while flat on the floor. Instead, his hands came down from his face, blinking bewilderedly up at Norman. “Uh--” His head snapped up to look at the rafter he had fallen from with a smaller “--uhm--”, followed by him looking between the rafter and the projectionist a couple times. He swallowed, bowtie fluttering with the motion even without a throat, before he flashed that twitchy, nervous grin of his back up at Norman, tugging at his bowtie slightly. “Y-yeah! Jus’ peachy.” He patted Norman’s shoulder, distractedly, looking back up at the rafter like it might come down and bite him. “Good catch, Polkey, you’re-- you’re a real stand up guy. So uh-- rafters are bad. Got it. Good talk.” The demon wriggled like a small pet who wasn’t interested in being carried, forcing Norman to put him down.

The projectionist sighed, putting his hands on his hips and making his best Disappointed face. “Well, least ya’ll got that much. But cripes, child, ya’ll can’t just climb up things willy-nilly like that-- things don’ work on no cartoon physics here, ya’ll could really hurt y’self or somebody else like that.”

The tiny Toon folded his hands behind his back and scuffed his shoe, staring at the floor woefully. “M’sorry”, he mumbled, soft.

Norman sighed, but before he could kneel down and talk any further, the sound of the lift creaking to a stop cut him off. A voice chuckled from behind the elevator bars; “Now, you’re not giving Norm any trouble, are you kiddo?”

Bendy and Norman turned to see Joey wheeling out of the lift, too-wide grin already in place like he was filming one of his big “ _ Dreams Come True _ ” talks.

The demon perked up immediately. “Joey!” With the quickest  _ clickity-click! _ from his tap shoes, Bendy was quickly by the studio owner’s wheelchair. As he beamed up, Joey beamed down, patting the lil’ devil on the head in a manner akin to ruffling a child’s hair, or perhaps more like petting a dog that was happy to see you.

“Mr. Drew”, Norman greeted his boss with a nod, far less enthusiastically than the dancing demon.

The studio’s owner looked over at the projectionist, expression hardly even twitching. “Hey there, Norm!”, he chirped, straightening in his wheelchair even as Bendy clambered up the back of it. “Sorry, was I interrupting something?”

Norman frowned a little. “Only tellin’ Bendy why lil’ darlin’ devils and rafters don’t mix.”

>   
>    
>  **Talk about the Toon's character development from Norman's perspective, as well as the slowly falling apart Studio.  
>   
>  Bendy actually developed into a HUGE DIVA which he's not actually in the cartoon because now he's a lot more aware of things and the large audience and, being a demon, he's just _yaaaaaas attention_  
>   
>  Boris actually gets more aware period, in the sensitive way.  
>   
> Alice initially doesn't seem to be doing much until Norman realizes she's sitting back and THINKING, at which point he starts getting her books. This turns out to be a mistake for his wallet.  
>   
> Also sneaking various other things like the cassettes and a lighter for them either because they need it or it makes them more comfortable.  
>   
> Set up his favorite harmonica, engraved with his name, here, as well as his working on the 14th floor, the same floor Alice and Boris's Summoning Circle are.**   
> 


	3. Could Be It's Own Sitcom

Chapter 3; Could Be It's Own Sitcom

>   
>    
>  **Just an episode with the cartoons fucking with each other in their tiny rooms, nothing impressive. Set up Alice can cleanse/heal minor things with a touch and that Bendy hates that shit, also Alice’s pet spider Carmilla making a cameo before it dies. Maybe have Bendy cough and wince towards the end.**


	4. Falling Ill

Chapter 4; Falling Ill

> **  
>   
> Bendy starts “getting sick” about 6 months after they were brought in, around the same time Joey started occasionally taking him away from the rooms. Boris and Alice are both worried beyond belief, Sammy is creepily dismissive that Joey is just “making him as he always was meant to be” and Susie just doesn't even care and even seems slightly hopeful he'll die. After another three months, they vanish.  
>   
>  Norman, however, is around and suspicious as fuck and eventually tells Alice he's getting them out of there, complete with leaving his harmonica to show he's coming back.  
>   
> Unfortunately, Joey catches him in his office. End scene immediately after being accosted.  
> **


	5. Holding Out For A Hero

Chapter 5; Holding Out For A Hero

>   
>    
>  **Alice and Boris keeping vigil even as Bendy falls apart and becomes incoherent (which, unbenounced to them, is him trying to warn them). Alice can't heal him because she has HOLY magic and Bendy straight up flinches when she so much as considers it.  
>   
>  Joey eventually sweeps in and convinces them to let him take Bendy again, he's so sure he's figured out what's wrong. Alice has reservations, but they're desperate and don't have a choice either way.  
>   
> Days pass by. Weeks. A month.  
>   
> Eventually Alice can't stand it and decides she's going out to find out what's going on herself.**


	6. Tag, You're It

Chapter 6; Tag, You're It

>   
>  **  
> Alice convinces Boris to help her take down the gate in the bathroom and put it back up so she can sneak out  
>   
>  She picks up a fire ax on the way mostly to scare any employees that try to stop her, only to find that the Studio is eerily empty. Turns out to be fortuitous anyhow when she runs into her first Searcher-Butcher mob (only referred to as _the things_ and _the half-drawn creatures_ in this narrative)  
>   
> Alice ends up losing a sock and shoe as she runs the hell away and into Heavenly Toys, hiding behind a couch. Searchers-Butchers aren’t smart or good with object permanence so they vanish/zombie off, leaving Alice to her own panic.**


	7. Grab The Protagonist Role And Run

Chapter 7; Grab The Protagonist Role And Run

> **Alice is Not Happy, equal parts more terrified than she’s ever been or even designed to be and something she can’t identify yet (angry). THIS is what has been outside the whole time? THIS? THIS IS WHAT JOEY MEANT BY MAKING THINGS PERFECT?!**
> 
> **She tries to force herself to calm down, and think things through. Okay. Everything is incredibly wrong out here. Norman said he’d be back. She’s more designed for the Damsel role than the Rescuer one, really, regardless of what she said to Boris. Should she go back and lock the doors until he returned? It’s been so long already; would he even make it in time?**
> 
> **Could she live with herself leaving Bendy out here to THIS?**
> 
> **No, she decides, no she could not.**
> 
> **She’s going to find him, and if she finds Joey she’s-- she’s-- not sure what she’ll do. Give him a piece of her mind, maybe.**


	8. Reeling Reveals

Chapter 8; Reeling Reveals

>   
>    
>    
>  **Alice gets down to the 14th Floor, which is not yet as fucked up as it will become but boy it's getting there. Searchers are currently working on putting together the bigass Bendy statue, which is Very Concerning, and the ink pools go up to Alice's knees already.  
>   
>  Alice checks the locks real quick on her and Boris's summoning room doors. They're rusty and won't hold for much longer-- a year at best-- but for now, they hold.  
>   
> After this, she goes down and skitters around the Searchers. They appear to be deaf and overly focused on their task, so she risks calling out for Norman. This IS where he works, right? Maybe he was moved? Or maybe he just went home, she couldn’t blame him for--  
>   
> The Searchers that remain catch sight of a flickering light and scram, and Alice soon finds out why; The Projectionist has arrived  
>   
> Except he's not yet completely covered in ink; there's a lot of blood, and a bit of skin and clothes still visible, including his name tag  
>   
> Alice's realization is followed immediately by The Projectionist roaring and charging**   
> 


	9. Leftover Parts

Chapter 9; Leftover Parts

>   
>    
>  **INSERT RUNNING AROUND AND SCREAMING HERE plus Alice trying to get Norman to recognize her and failing quite a bit  
>   
>  That is, until she trips on the stairs attempting to scramble up to the lift and pulls out the harmonica in a last ditch effort   
>   
> THIS works, and not only does The Projectionist back up, but after a bit more talking from Alice, he calms, though twitching painfully  
>   
> Alice tries to heal him, futilely, only to get batted lightly and growled at  
>   
> She asks who did this to him and he writes a very sloppy “ _J. D._ ” on the wall. Cue PANIC since guess who had Bendy last. She asks if he knows where Joey is, and he shakes his projector head, but when she asks if she knows who might so she can fix this, he twitches and manages to write “ _Level S_ ”, followed by a halo and “ _Sus_ ” before his hand drags and trails off, unable to stay steady.  
>   
> One last farewell hug and apology and Alice, struggling hard not to cry and promising she's going to find a way to help him, makes her way back to the lift and punches in the button to Level S**


	10. Not How She Wanted It

Chapter 9: Not How She Wanted It

> **Alice gets a happy fun hallucination ala what in-game happens to Henry while in the elevator, complete with a voice whispering if she’s just going to use that ax as a security blanket (hi Mirror Demon early cameo)**
> 
> **She isn’t throwing up YET that’ll be for The Angel’s horseshit, but she’s deeply considering it**
> 
> **She heads towards the Archives and marvels at it-- the Statue and Lost aren’t there yet and it’s electric and in perfect condition, besides a few books being out. She runs her hands over the shelves and mutters, very quietly, about how she always did want a library to herself.**


	11. What Is The Difference Between A Cartoon And An Angel?

Chapter 10; What Is The Difference Between A Cartoon And An Angel?

> **(Answer; blood, which will be in the end of chapter notes. Lmao bioshock jokes)**
> 
> **The book security system isn’t quite in yet-- or rather, it is, but there’s also a turn key. Frowning, Alice heads back towards the area labeled as someone’s office-- Grant was it-- figuring maybe there’s something that way to use. That’s how these things go, yes?**
> 
> **Yes, but also, Monster Grant**
> 
> **Alice is cornered before she can get back out the door and something SNAPS in the fear-- holy, blinding rage and refusal to die NOW before she can find and save Bendy.**
> 
> **Grant gets destroyed (sorry dude) and as Alice is recovering from the sinking twist in her guts for doing something so-- so-- WRONG, something hums at her from the mirror**

_ “Well, now. It’s about time, Canary.” _


	12. The Mirror Demon

**Character 11; The Mirror Demon**

> **Hello you horrible little combination of Alice’s anger, need to find/help Bendy, shoulder demon (har) and her own internal self-dragging monologue, I’m so glad I get to write you now**
> 
> **Alice is significantly less pleased and The Mirror Demon is rather unhelpful in telling her if he’s just a figment of her imagination (yes) or actually a part of the real Bendy (no). Does it really matter though? He’s gotta hand it to her, he didn’t think she’d actually go THAT far in trying to find him. Boy, he hopes she washes the blood off that ax before she actually comes to get him; red ain’t a good look for her.**
> 
> **Alice is Not Happy, but hearkening to her own cutting off of Henry and Boris in The Devil’s Swing, The Mirror Demon cuts her off and reminds her she better hurry if she wants to actually find him before he ends up any worse. Of course, given it’s her and all, he wouldn’t be surprised if she just ran back and hid after all this; she wasn’t written to be the hero, after all, it’d just be natural to leave him to his own fate--**
> 
> **At which point Alice drops the butt of her ax on the mirror and cracks it. This gets a short Rude from The Mirror Demon, before she picks up the piece of mirror that sounded from. He scowls at her before she tucks it into her Inventory, just in case she really isn’t going mad and he’s still there later when she’s calmer. Standing around ISN’T making her calmer though, so she searches for the turn key and goes back to the door, feeling an awful lot like something hollowed her out more than someone who on a rescue mission**


	13. Lost Howls

Chapter 12; The Lost Howls

> **There isn’t a big cavern there YET, though it’s forming. Alice instead finds The Lost Souls hidden in the cave/area the maintenance pipe will be-- including fat Searchers like Fain, let the man live until Joey dies-- and understandably freaks out and then is very upset on realizing they’re just as scared as she is**
> 
> **On exiting the thing, a voice from one of the cages talks to her. He’s too far up to see, but he introduces himself as Tom and comments he didn’t expect to see an actual stable Cartoon, followed by telling her she should scram before The Nightmares or The Angel’s goons swing back around. They’re both pretty pissed at him, once they’ve hunted down his friend they’re definitely coming back to get him.**
> 
> **Alice has NO idea what he’s talking about but, after seeing a glimpse of The Mirror Demon-- and getting the slight jolt that he IS still there-- insists she can’t go until she gets it out of Susie where Bendy is**
> 
> **Tom is like Uh followed by That’s A Terrible Idea but after a couple more refutes he sighs and tells her The Angel’s currently running rampant over The Themepark with her and Joey’s “collaboration” and all her mini monsters from it, and MAYBE The Angel will cough up**
> 
> **Alice says, very slowly since she thinks Tom missed what she was talking about, that she’s looking for Susie. Tom said that’s what he said. Alice has some concerns.**
> 
> **Tom shoos her and says he’ll look her up in the afterlife, and Alice climbs across the current crumbling bridge across The Abyss, grimacing all the way.**


	14. Welcome To Hell

Chapter 13; Welcome To Hel **l**

> **Yet another happy fun hallucination that is literally the one in-game but for Alice! Who said Bendy had to have all the fun with going mad? Technically it’s also pre-cognition since she’s an Angel and shit’s about to go south fast but she doesn’t know that.**
> 
> **Alice herself is really not liking this, because she’s REASONABLY certain that Going Mad From The Revelation is happening, but since it’s unheard of for Toons who weren’t written like that to actually go insane outside of brief gags before Snapback hits, she doesn’t really know, and that makes her all the more worried.**
> 
> **Brief comedic moment in the Future Chapel where Alice’s hips actually get stuck in the vent and she has to keep her legs completely flat and pull herself with just her arms. Thank god for the Inventory so she can put her ax in hammerspace.**
> 
> **The Mirror Demon makes fun of her in a space light enough to allow for a reflection in the vent’s metal, which prompts another conversation in which he’s entirely unhelpful in clarifying if he’s just her going mad or really some part of Bendy. He eventually reminds her she needs to keep going, which prompts her to get out of the vent-- after yet another comedy moment of her hips getting stuck. Someone really needs to make those vents wider (haaaaaa foreshadowing one of the ink changes in three years)**
> 
> **She takes her ax out automatically, but there’s nothing...in THIS room**
> 
> **Storage 9 is already open, and she can hear noises from it, so she sneaks over to it and peers in**


	15. Little Nightmares

Chapter 14; Little Nightmares

> **Behold the Inkpot Nightmare being shouted at by The Angel over the PA system, ranting on about beauty and putting so much effort into making them perfect, even putting up with Drew to catch that ALLISON and STILL they haven’t managed it, and multiple clones. Alice nearly has a heart attack on seeing a Frankenboris, and doubly so on seeing multiples.**
> 
> **As Alice whirls back around and tries not to be sick, The Mirror Demon comments from the reflection in her ax that if this is her idea of beauty she really needs to take an art class.**
> 
> **The name Allison is vaguely familiar to her, but she doesn’t quite know why.**
> 
> **The Angel finishes ranting and there’s many heavy footsteps. Alice looks again, and sees everything’s gone.**
> 
> **She doesn’t trust it.**
> 
> **Very carefully she enters The Themepark, keeping herself to the shadows**


	16. The Wisest Response To Horror

Chapter 15; The Wisest Response To Horror

> **In which Alice Nopes at all the rooms for understandable reasons. Maintenance still goes first and involves her double taking at hearing NORMAN down there before Noping, and she gets all the way into Bertie’s room, sees the Obvious Set Up, and then Nopes**
> 
> **Also involves her either being in awe there was going to be a park for them, slightly frustrated by the state of the place, and a Is That Really What I Look Like**
> 
> **She tries to get into the Monster House but it’s locked from the inside. When she steps away the lights hit her and the Inkwell Nightmare and Little Nightmares are surrounding her**
> 
> **The Angel croons over the speakers about catching a little fake in her endless web**


	17. It Takes One To Kill One

Chapter 16; Takes One To Kill One

> **There’s something darkly humorous about the exchange, especially since The Angel admits the “deal” she’s offering that if Alice can take on all her minions here she’ll tell her what happened to That Demon is absolutely one-sided and mostly because she wants to watch her go squish, perfect organs be damned, to The Mirror Demon’s snarky comments**
> 
> **There’s a lot of yelping and dodging as Alice tries not to die, including Oh Good The Ax Has No Effect**
> 
> **Eventually she remembers the Obvious Trap that looked like a treasure box, runs in there, hides because these things still aren’t that bright, then has a brief panic moment as she realizes her New Idea requires a ranged weapon which she doesn’t have**
> 
> **The Mirror Demon deadpans she could always use her halo as a slingshot. There’s a beat where Alice essentially does an Aside Glance before doing just that**
> 
> **She then runs out of the Storage Room and cuts the cord on it, locking the door before anything can come back out.**
> 
> **The Angel takes this Poorly as Alice tries to block out the sounds of the Inkwell Nightmare and Little Nightmares being totally destroyed to remind her of her own deal**
> 
> **The Angel huffs and says Fine before telling her to come up to the 9th Floor and they’ll settle this face to face**
> 
> **There’s a beat of finality and silence before The Mirror Demon pipes up that he meant using her halo as a slingshot as a joke and her telling him to shut up**


	18. My Fair Lady

Chapter 17; My Fair Lady

>   
>    
> 
> 
> **The joke is London Bridge because The Angel is a sore loser and sends one of her remaining, heavy Little Nightmares to jump Alice just outside The Chapel and, after running around trying not to die-- again-- and finally getting out and across the crumbling walkway, IT tries to cross the walkway and breaks it, resulting in the chasm we know in-game**
> 
> **Tom comments on this and is surprised that she managed to actually get rid of a swarthe of Little Nightmares and a real Nightmares before dismissing her asking if he wants help down; his friend should be by soon if she really took out that much for her, he wants to think for a bit. She asks if it’s really necessary to be up in a cage for that and he says yes.**
> 
> **Alice huffs, but gets a “get on with it” gesture from the reflection in her ax ala The Mirror Demon and hesitantly leaves for the elevator**
> 
>   
>  **She can hear, faintly, Tom musing she must get her attitude from her voice actor, but she doesn’t quite understand**.   
> 


	19. Discarded Sketches

Chapter 18; Discarded Sketches

>   
>  **  
> Alice tries to get herself to together on the lift ride up, pacing and talking through the plan she's coming up with with The Mirror Demon. He suggests violence most foul which gets her to decide for a moment he can’t be Bendy, Bendy’s too nice-- and too cowardly-- to jump for actual bloodshed. The Mirror Demon points out that the last time he was COHERENT, he was too nice, and that wasn’t any time recently. Did he look all that much like a _darlin’_ devil last she saw?**
> 
> **She doesn’t answer, instead stopping for a moment of silence before going back to planning.  
>   
>  Regardless, once she actually gets up to the 9th Floor she is distracted from her internal struggle by the (still in progress) She's Quite A Gal sign. Luckily, Susie hasn't gotten the doors working yet-- they're twitching and jerking half-closed, allowing Alice to slip through.  
>   
> Most of the chapter/the horror is the room of discarded clones, after she even realizes they're clones (she suddenly feels _very_ bad she never considered where any of the side characters were before seeing the Butcher Gang earlier, and even then she assumed they were the real ones just mutilated-- Joey xeroxing them all just didn’t occur to her), and the fact that some of them aren't harvested yet...and have human organs instead of the rubber hose balloons Toons should have for viscera.  
>   
> Yeah Alice finally loses her lunch into the Ink pools and has to sit down for a second. The Mirror Demon makes fun of her for it and she dumps the end of the ax in a different pool, resulting in protesting gargling.  
>   
> **
> 
> **Of course, then she gets to Susie, who's not yet set up a glass screen between her torture zone and the entryway**


	20. The Spider And The Angel

Chapter 19; The Spider And The Angel

> **Susie is Crazy Talking and Alice trying to get her to calm down and maybe not just makes her even crazier, especially since she’s Very Sore about losing the deal. She yells she can see Bendy easy-- once she JOINS HIM IN HELL  
>   
>  BOSS FIGHT   
>   
> Alice isn't exactly losing, but she's too unnerved to actually do much than dodge-- particularly since that implied Bendy’s already dead and she is thus Reeling-- until The Angel does a dumb and A) talks about scooping out “that perfect copy of Boris” back in the Toons' rooms and B) clarifies he’s alive and that she hopes Bendy's rotting for “stealing her spotlight” and that once she perfects herself she’ll erase him herself so she’ll never be outshone, at which point Alice gets TICKED.   
>   
> Alice proceeds to throw her ax (which always works for a Toon unless it'd be funny) and cut through a part of The Angel's malformed halo before charging and headbutting her right in the solar plexus. While Susie is down, Alice gets her ax back before standing over her and very quietly demanding The Angel tell her where Joey took Bendy.  
>   
> The Angel is Slightly Unnerved since Alice would have slightly off-model eyes for this due to sheer anger but cackles and says there's no pain some half-baked fake with a rotten voice could inflict on her that would be worse than being made and remade  
>   
> Alice is about to snark back that she didn't much like an ax to the halo, but. She drips. And The Angel is NOT HAPPY and squirms away from that.  
>   
> After realizing that The Angel is scared of the Ink, she promptly drags her out to the pools of dead clone cartoons and holds her face CLOSE to them before very softly asking again. Her voice, at no point, raises or loses the same quiet, calm tone even as The Angel screams at her before finally breaking and telling her Level 4; The Music Department.  
>   
> Alice lets her go and heads back to the lift.**


	21. Doomed By Canon

Ya'll can skip this one, I posted it seperate as a teaser


	22. Hope Spot

Chapter 21; Hope Spot

>   
>  **  
> Alice gets Bendy back to the rooms and has to balance explaining to Boris what the fuck and getting things together for them to bail. When she looks in any reflection she just sees her own, which makes her pause for a second and is meant to imply to her and the audience the Mirror Demon was a part of Bendy because har  
>   
>  The plan ends up being Alice attracting the Searcher's attention and leading them away while Boris scrams for the lift with Bendy (who is getting swadled up in sheets-- BORIS can still carry him but he is Drippy and Gross and nobody needs the extra stress), since she KNOWS now she can take them. She grabs some bottlecaps in lieu of breadcrumbs for him to leave so she can find them again outside.  
>   
> As the plan goes in motion, for a moment, she has hope.**   
> 


	23. The Traitor And The Priest

Chapter 22; The Traitor And The Priest

>   
>    
>  **Boris gets up the the top floor and then down the stairs to the ground floor, only to be accosted by Joey and (a carefully hidden in a tarp, to be milked for a breather) Sammy.  
>   
>  Joey tricks Boris and locks him into what will become the Room Of Crazy after swiping Bendy.  
>   
> Boris is stuck there for some time (enough to write We're Sorry for either Alice in apology for failing or Bendy for much the same, whoever finds it), and the chapter ends on the door opening again**


	24. Who's Laughing Now?

Chapter 23; Who's Laughing Now?  
  


> **Alice manages to clear out the Searchers she taunted into following her and finally gets back to the lift. She too goes to the top floor and then skitters to the ground floor.  
>   
>  After she enters into the corner where Henry was shoved into and leaves that hall, she finds bottlecaps.  
>   
> Ones leading further in.  
>   
> Naturally they lead to Boris's recently vivisected corpse. Alice understandably flips out, complete with trying to close Boris's chest and heal it herself, and reach the ink pumps (which are much too far up for her to get, much less pull down and try to use them to fix Boris) before finally collapsing in a pile of sobs by his side.  
>   
> When she finally picks herself back up, she sees the writing on the wall, left by Joey; Who's Laughing Now?  
>   
> An anger even worse than the one she had in response to possible death or The Angel flairs to life in her chest. She notices one of the bits of paper on the wall has fresh writing on it. Storming over and reading, it has Joey's writing again, this time telling her to meet him in the room they first met.  
>   
> Balling it up and throwing it into the corner, she pauses a few more seconds at Boris's side, squeezing his hand and begging him to hold on a little longer. **

  
“I'll fix this.”

>   
>    
>  **She then pulls out her ax and storms back towards the lift. She starts to say the prayer about love but stops and instead begins to recite a verse about war. Specifically Deuteronomy 20, 1-4  
>   
>  When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord our God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory. '  
>   
> Obviously not all of this, it's gonna be chopped up, also it’s interspersed by The Mirror Demon commenting on it before she switches to the War Prayer and then cackling and going THAT’S my girl!**   
> 


	25. Kicking And Screaming

**Chapter 24; Kicking And Screaming**

>   
>  **  
> Alice goes to accost Joey Drew in her own summoning room, filled with musical equipment, a ridiculous amount of lit candles, and Alice dolls.**
> 
>   
>  **POV is Joey, so as not to describe anything about him and also creepy. Joey chastizes her for going off script and out of character and rudely interrupting his making Bendy perfect and dragging poor Boris into it. She calls him out without raising her voice but he blows her off, meaning to lure her into a deal because as “out of character” as “this version” is being, he could use that kind of bloodthirsty if he can get it under his thumb  
>   
>  NOPE FUCK YOU JOEY BOSS FIGHT  
>   
> Which is admittedly more “Alice chases Joey around in a blind rage until he can finally get the acetone out of his pocket and break her circle”  
>   
> Alice falls apart, but not before one last hellish scream and managing to cut Joey's face.**   
> 

  
With the final fading echo of her angry, dying scream, the candles flickered, clawing high into the air for a moment before, at last, snuffing themselves out, welcoming in the darkness like an old friend.   



	26. It's Happening Again

Chapter 25; It's Happening Again  
  


> **  
> Three months later Joey, irritated, realizes that his xeroxes really aren’t working and Bendy is in fact “malfunctioning” every so often and shaking off his “revisions” when reminded of his friends, and that Bendy would probably work better if they were in his pocket  
>   
>  He edits Alice's circle a bit to make it impossible for her to hit him or to change her circle herself, knowing that if she comes back “still out of character” with all that rebellious nonsense he needs to make sure she can't kill him before he can use Bendy and Boris as leverage for her behaving herself-- she nearly got him the last time, he doesn't need this malarky from a malfunctioning muppet.   
>   
> Of course, something goes wrong from the moment he drops the heart he just cut out from the discarded carcass into the circle to complete the Sacrifices. Specifically, all the flames immediately DIE. Instead of the sound of ink pooling and gurgling or the delightful sound of bones snapping into place as a new skeleton is formed, something glowing and white begins to curl upwards like smoke, complete with the scent of burning ink hitting his nose.  
>   
> Out of the cloud of white form a dripping, black maw and bulging black eyes with white irises  
>   
> All the sound systems buzz to life before humming out a litany of a one single, hissing word; “ _Traitor_ ”  
>   
> Then, with an unholy scream not unlike the one Alice had on her death, the specter throws itself at him, vanishing into a poof of condensed ink as everything in the room rattles, lifts, and starts hurtling towards him, with no way of escape.  
>   
> Joey covers his head, but nothing actually manages to hit him; he actually sees, when he dares peek, a few of the things bounce off centimeters from his skin, as if whatever it is can't hit him. Of course, if she just knocks something on accident that might not count and he’s still screwed, so time to bail  
>   
> Another enraged scream screeches over the speakers before everything drops and shatters, informing Joey as he bolts from the room that there will be no where he can run that she won’t find him. **

“ _ YOU CAN FLEE INTO THE VERY DEPTHS OF THE PIT YOU SLITHERED OUT OF, AND I WILL STILL F I N D Y O U _ !”

>   
>  **Joey has no idea what he done fucked up here, but clearly something went wrong with the ritual. Or, of course, she had started malfunctioning so badly that was all that was left. Either way, she was definitely more of a hindrance now.  
>   
>  And yet, he's intrigued; if he can catch her, how much more powerful would Bendy be on feasting on her soul?  
>   
> Deciding to let her stay for now-- she can do nothing to stop him now-- Joey leaves to go check on Bendy. Oh yes, feeding her to the beast sounds like such a marvelous way to give Bendy a little extra push.**

  
  
“But first, I need to make a few...adjustments.”   



End file.
